Flowers and Bees
by Spicas
Summary: There's a bouquet of white daisies in his hands, a small one at that, but he knows for a fact these are the star's favorite, and he's already anxious to give them to her. Future fic.


_AN: this is just a little something based on a tweet from swancharmings - which you should totally check out. I couldn't help myself. let me know your thoughts!_

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**Flowers and Bees**

Harvey walks carefully amid people, every now and then shaking a hand and exchanging quick pleasantries with someone. He's been at this for more than just a few times, he knows the drill. He never missed one of Donna's performances, not in New York and not in Seattle, however few there have been here. It's not super late that he's missed anything yet, since most people are still standing, but it's still later than he had hoped to arrive.

There's a bouquet of white daisies in his hands, a small one at that, but he knows for a fact these are the star's favorite, and he's already anxious to give them to her.

After finally getting to the seats, he looks around the theater, one person in mind — his eyes scan the room, a big one actually, and he finally sees a familiar face. His father-in-law is waving at him, and next to him Harvey sees his mother-in-law holding Henry.

He smiles and makes his way to where they are.

"Hey," he says enthusiastically. Henry is distracted by the frilly costumes walking past the seats every now and then, but turns when he hears Harvey's voice. "I had to take a detour."

Clara sees the bouquet in his hands and gives him a knowing smile, while Jim simply shakes his head in mock disbelief. Henry lets out a squeal, reaching for his father.

"Hey there, buddy," Harvey says, quickly switching flowers for baby as he sits next to Clara. "Are you being a good boy and behaving?"

"Yes, he is," Clara gushes over her grandson. "He's been an absolute angel."

Henry looks at his grandmother and gives her a gummy smile, before proceeding to hide his face against Harvey's collar. Six months old and he already knows everyone is wrapped around his little finger. The wisps of blonde hair on top of his head tickle Harvey's jaw and he pats the baby's bottom affectionately. The stage is still dark and more people are arriving by the minute.

"Where's Donna?" He asks after a moment, hoping to get a glimpse of her before the show.

"Backstage," Jim answers. "She's gonna love the flowers."

Harvey smirks. "It's the least I could do. Plus, it's tradition. I always give Donna flowers when she performs."

They chit chat as the theater fills with people, and Harvey feels a little anxious. There is _a lot_ of people. A lot for Seattle, anyway. And this kind of show as well. He's been a few times, but with the entire family as audience and not with one of them performing, so this is a first of sorts. Finally, the theater lights darken a little, not too much, and Henry is snoozing in his arms. Everyone gets to their seats, but thankfully the one next to him is still empty. A woman comes onstage and is doing the introduction when Donna finally appears and is giving him a bright smile as she reaches the seat.

"Hey," she whispers, waving softly to her parents, then giving Harvey a chaste kiss as she rubs a palm against Henry's back. "You were late."

Harvey rolls his eyes. "I just didn't get here with your parents. Had to make a detour."

She frowns. "What for?"

He points his chin to the flowers — now Jim is holding them — and Donna chuckles.

"You didn't," her eyes soften when they look back at him. "This is perfect."

He smiles in spite of himself, and then the curtains are fully open and their attention is elsewhere. One by one, the presenters take their place, and his eyes settle on only one — the little redhead in the middle row, dressed in a frilly, glittery yellow outfit, with black stripes. The tutu is black too, and so are her shoes. Half the other children are dressed the same way, while the other half is dressed in green tutus and pink outfits — he knows for a fact those are the flowers of the presentation. This is a spring recital, after all. Her hair is styled in two pigtails, and he saw her ask Donna to make her hair particularly this way because that's how she wanted it. Harvey watches as she takes her place, very focused, and then looks ahead, nervous little eyes searching the big crowd in front of her.

Donna waves, and it's enough to catch the little girl's attention. Ella waves back quickly and smiles brightly at them, but soon the dance instructor on the corner asks for attention and the song starts.

He's heard _My Magic Tutu_ far more times in the past month than he's ever thought he would hear it. In fact, he's a little sick of the song (not that he will ever say it in front of little ears) but his in-laws, who flew all the way from the east coast to see this and spend the weekend with them haven't. Jim is the one recording — Harvey is not sure how well this video will be because Jim isn't great at this, although he tries — and Donna's eyes are a little mist ten seconds into the song.

Harvey, for one, is completely taken by Ella. She doesn't do perfectly, none of them expected her to. They all laugh when she twirls the opposite way, a little too slowly for the song, and she and another little girl dressed as a bee accidentally smack against each other while trying to round one of the flowers — however, they merely look at each other and laugh, prompting a few laughs from the audience. Then, finally, it comes the final number of the song — a total two minutes of it that went by far too fast in Harvey's opinion — and he holds his breath, because they've practiced this for a long time yesterday.

The bees scatter a little (Harvey thinks they're supposed to go to their initial places, but oh well, there's only so much three year olds can do) and twirl — Ella does it a little too fast and almost loses her balance. Soon she remembers herself and blows a kiss to the audience as it's part of the routine. She jumps then, a few little girls too, and smiles so big Harvey might have teared up a little. Perfect, just as he predicted. The song ends and people start clapping. Henry, none the wiser, still sleeps soundly.

The good thing about being the parents of a three-year-old is that her class is the first to perform the dance recital, and thus they are ready to leave soon after the recital starts. In between leaving the seats and going backstage to get their little star, Henry is awake again, and unsurprisingly wants Donna the moment he sees her. Harvey passes him to his wife, then gets the bouquet of daisies from Jim and soon they're on their way to Ella.

A blur of yellow and black reaches them the moment they get closer, however, and instantly flings herself onto Harvey's legs.

"Did you see me?" Ella more or less yells. The other little girls around seem to be doing the same thing.

"Did anyone see Ella?" Harvey asks playfully. "So many little bees and I can't see Ella!"

"Daddy! It's me!" She laughs, tugging at his pants a little.

"There she is!" He crouches down to give her a kiss, and she giggles against his ear, moving then to her mother and even giving Henry a kiss before going to her beloved grandparents.

He hides the little bouquet behind his back and shares a look with Donna as Jim and Clara gush over their granddaughter. Amid encouragements and compliments from the family Harvey brings the bouquet forward just as Ella is receiving a kiss on the cheek from both her grandparents. Her eyes brighten when she sees the daisies.

"Daddy!" She exclaims, already reaching for the flowers. "Mama, I got flowers! Just like you!"

Donna chuckles. "I see that. What do you say to Daddy?"

"Thank you Daddy, I love you!" She says quickly, throwing herself around his neck.

Harvey plants a kiss on her cheek and stands up, holding her close and not even minding the way the tutu isn't really comfortable around his middle.

"I love you too, peanut," he says. "What else do we do when Mommy is on stage?"

"We have dinner! And ice cream," Ella notes.

He chuckles because there's no tradition about ice cream. Not yet, anyway.

"That sounds about right," he agrees.

Donna is shaking her head and he'll no doubt hear about him agreeing to everything their little girl says but — well, she was an amazing little bee, and little bees deserve ice cream of their choice in his book. They follow Jim and Clara out and he shares a look with Donna — their little girl is still chatting excitedly in his arms, while their little boy is probably about to pull Donna's hair. He thinks back to the countless times they met backstage on the plays she did back in New York, the countless bouquet of flowers and dinners afterwards. Most of those events (with the exception of the two plays Donna has done here in Seattle, once before Ella was born and once afterwards) they shared all those things but went home separately afterwards.

Here in Seattle the crowd is different, dinner will be at their house instead of a fancy restaurant, they'll find out Jim never managed to record anything, but thankfully another mom has and will share the video with them, Ella will probably do her dance routine once or twice more for her grandparents, and Donna will likely eat while breastfeeding Henry because that's what their life is about now.

Now, they lace their fingers together as they leave the theater, and he thinks about the many dance recitals they'll have to attend in the next few years. He's looking forward to them all.

Life is different, and Harvey wouldn't change a damn thing. He gets to go home with Donna and their family now, after all.


End file.
